MailmanDave
17 Years Experience
Long Island, NY
Male, 43
I am a City Letter Carrier for the US Postal Service in NY. I've been a city letter carrier for over 17 years and it is the best job I've ever had. I mostly work 5 days per week (sometimes includes a Saturday) and often have the opportunity for overtime, which is usually voluntary. The route I deliver has about 350 homes and I walk to each of their doors to deliver the mail. Please keep in mind that I don't have authority to speak for the USPS, so all opinions are solely mine, not my employer.
I don't know that you would actually get the package that was delivered to your old address. Once it is delivered there, it'd probably be up to the recipients to return it to the USPS saying you no longer live there. If you put in a forwarding request for mail to go from your old address to your new address the package should have been forwarded as well. I would contact the sender and ask if you could get a replacement item because the first order went to your old address. I am not sure that you would get a replacement because the item was shipped to the address you gave them.
I am not exactly sure what a polymailer is but as long as there is postage affixed or prepaid postage printed off the internet or a prepaid return shipping label the letter carrier should take it. We do this all the time with home-based business that sell on eBay, etsy, etc. Please just make sure the item to be mailed is visible to the letter carrier.
Thanks for your question. Usually, we don't honor handwritten forwarding requests on a piece of mail unless the person requesting it puts on postage in addition to the already "used" postage on the letter when it was originally mailed. It is true that if the original bar code isn't covered up that the mail may not be sent to the "forwarded" address either. The best way for a previous tenant/resident to receive mail via the USPS forwarding system is to submit an official change of address application either online at www.usps.gov or via a paper form available at any Post Office. I know this is a bit lengthy of answer to your original question. The bottom line is that I don't know how you can track the mail or receive it again. It is possible that it was returned to the sender.
I don't know the answer to this, but if you bought a replacement flag that is able to go up and down, it would certainly help. As long as I'm stopping at a house to deliver mail and there is outgoing mail which is easily visible I will know to take it with me whether or not a flag is raised. The possible confusion comes on a day where there is no mail to be delivered to your address. In that case a letter carrier may not stop if there is no flag to notify of outgoing mail. Where I deliver mail (Long Island, NY) most addresses receive some type of mail daily (a local flyer or gov't mailing, advertising, etc) so this is rarely a problem. In your part of TX, this may not be the case so I can't really comment on the significance of having an operational flag.
Lifeguard
Waitress
Social Security Employee
Eric, I do understand what you mean. It's like they look to the CCA to clean up the table scraps when a regular is out on sick or annual leave or can't finish their route. This is the nature of being a CCA. It's important to be flexible in your availability and willingness to go help other letter carriers. With regard to the time frame to complete 3 or 4 different pieces, it's important to not get too caught up with how long they say it should take. As long as you are going at a reasonable pace and not wasting time by using your cell phone or talking too long too customers, the management can't do much too you. It sounds like you have passed probation which is good. They also need to take into account that it takes time to travel between the locations you are assigned to go to. If they give you a hard time about how long it takes to complete a section, I would respond that you are doing as best as you can. Please just deliver the mail safely, accurately and be organized.
I think it's fine for the letter carrier to hand you the mail outside, but I also think it's a good idea for the letter carrier to inquire if there may be any outgoing mail. The mail should also be visible in the mailbox so the letter carrier can see that there is outgoing mail. I've never been told it's illegal to hand someone the mail especially if they are personally known to the letter carrier. If it were illegal, I'd hope that our mgmt or training manuals (which I've almost never seen) would address that question.
Yes, certified mail is attempted on Saturday to be delivered. A person must be present to sign for Certified Mail items unless prior written authorization has been given to the Post Office by the intended recipient. Certified Mail is considered accountable mail meaning the letter carriers have to sign that they received the certified mail and then at the end of our shift we must return the attempted certified mail (if nobody was available to accept it at the delivery point) or return proof of delivery (now done electronically) to the registry clerk at the Post Office.
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